Top Tens! A Look Back at 2017 in Music

What a year in music 2017 was. The pundits have said this year heralds the age of hip hop. Why? This was the year that hip hop cut itself loose from its roots from bangerz “in da club” to branch out in tempo, composition, realization and instrumentation to become, more than any other musical genre, so much more than a genre. Collaborations between hip hop and indie artists led the way. Starting with this year’s Grammy nominations, hip-hop’s dominance has gained recognition with the mainstream audience (and fusty NARAS members). And hip-hop artists headlined formerly indie music festivals and held festivals of their own.

We present here some playlists from our Knitting Factory News’ staff and, while we might be late to the party, we’re definitely AT the party. A look back. Spotify playlists linked to each of our lists for your enjoyment!

Holiday Christmas Clearance:

Even though we choked the post with holiday music last time around, we missed these two: Jeremih and Chance the Rapper’s deluxe edition of 2016’s mixtape with ten new tracks. Download it for free from Soundcloud here. Meanwhile, Amazon released twenty more songs in as a follow up to 2016’s sprawling Indie For Christmas playlist.It features exclusive tunes from everyone from the Lemon Twigs to Best Coast to Mexican Institute of Sound. It’s NOT free.